This invention relates to a lint roller of the type that has a tacky outer surface provided for the purpose of picking up lint, hair, dandruff, etc. from different types of surfaces such as clothing, furniture, and the like. More particularly this invention relates to such a lint roller in combination with an encasement for enclosing the roller and also for providing a handle which can be gripped by the user for the purpose of operating the roller.
Lint rollers are extremely old and attempts have been made to provide some type of encasement so as to cover the tacky surface and at the same time provide a handle for operating the roller. For example, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,325 which discloses such a device but to my knowledge has not been commercially successful. It is believed that such roller construction is too costly to manufacture because of the number of parts encompassed in mounting the roller within the encasement. These parts include disc-like end walls which fit into the ends of the roller and form a part of the roller. Besides being expensive, these disc walls have flanges extending beyond the periphery of the disc roller which has the disadvantage, of preventing the tacky surface from contacting the surface being treated, particularly when the roller is to be rolled on a relatively flat surface. Further, the number of parts make it cumbersome to change the roller and also adds to the cost of the entire item which is an important factor in low cost items of this type.
Further, to my knowledge, all lint collectors of this type which include a handle forming part of the encasement are cumbersome to use on flat surfaces because in grabbing the handle the fingers of the user prohibit the entire roller from contacting the surface.